


To Fear

by ghouluke



Series: Requests and Drabbles [3]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mild Gore, Suicidal Thoughts, or blood, or death, so avoid if suicide is a bad spot for you, very strong mentions of suicide in context with the fact it's a shitty zombie land
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8158204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghouluke/pseuds/ghouluke
Summary: It was inevitable that things would go south, even with the amount of belief Ashton put into it going the opposite way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: "This is all your fault! I can’t believe I listened to you!"
> 
> original is [here](http://ghouluke.tumblr.com/post/143174970061/lashton-82) if you wish to reblog

It was inevitable that things would go south, even with the amount of belief Ashton put into it going the opposite way. 

His boyfriend, Luke, was running beside him, gun in hand now as avoiding creating noise wasn’t going to do much good now; the herd was practically surrounding them and a gun was Luke’s best combat.

Ashton watched as more zombies fell in front of them, as Luke fired bullets into the skulls of any that would block their path. 

Beside him, Ashton was struggling to keep up. If this had been a normal day, he would have been just as agile as Luke, except kniving zombies where possible instead of firing a gun. However, there was blood dripping down Ashton’s torso, his t-shirt smeared with red and torn. His left arm was also twisted and bloody. He could barely see clearly, due to his head feeling fuzzy and the feeling of faintness was building with every second that they ran.

Ashton wished he could help Luke with killing the zombies and clearing a path, but he could barely think straight and his aim was probably terribly off, so all he could do was keep running on.

The herd seemed to be thinning out in front of them; most of the zombies were behind them now. That’s when Ashton noticed a building they could hole up in on the horizon. 

Luke briefly glanced at him, blue eyes flickering to him nervously, while he changed his magazine, still running through the space they had. “Come on, Ash! Almost there, babe.“ 

Eventually, the couple made it to the building, rushing inside. Ashton immediately collapsed onto the floor, causing Luke to scream, and rush over. "Fuck, shit, Ash. Not now. God, not now.”

If Luke said anything else after that, Ashton didn’t hear him.

* * *

“…shouldn’t be here. If we hadn’t left the fucking base to save that shitting dog. **This is all your fault! I can’t believe I listened to you!** God, and now you’re fucking bleeding like hell and I don’t know what to do. Shit, Ash, wake up. Please don’t leave me like this.”

The moment Ashton woke up, he felt sick and hot. Fuck, he felt like he was sweating up a storm. One of Luke’s hands was on top of his, while the other was carding through his sweaty curls.

Ashton slowly opened his eyes, and saw Luke looking down at him with tears dripping from his eyes. “I’m okay, sweetheart. I’m awake now, shh.”

“Ash, fuck, I thought you… I thought…" 

Ashton watched Luke snap and he fell forward on top of his boyfriend, sobbing hysterically into his chest, not caring about Ashton’s wound which luckily Luke had bandaged with whatever he had.

Once Luke was all cried out, Ashton watched weakly as he sat up, hand clasping itself to Ashton’s to keep contact. "I was - am so scared. You’re a fucking idiot. God, Ash, what are we going to do? I’m not letting you die.”

Ashton gulped, stretching his hand up to Luke’s cheek, his boyfriend leaning softly into his palm, eyes closing. “Luke, let’s face it, I’m going to die. You saw what happened.”

Although the prospect of dying frankly terrified Ashton, he knew he would rather be in this position than it being Luke. It nearly was. 

In the process of trying to save the dog from the building it was trapped in, the zombies they had to sneak past to get inside had surrounded them after the dog decided to bark loudly. Ashton hadn’t seen where it went after that, as it ran away, leaving Ashton and Luke to deal with the crowd of zombies. 

Things went incredibly wrong when one of the shelves in the room had fallen towards Luke, who was preoccupied with axeing a zombie, seemlessly not noticing.

Ashton had screamed at him so loudly in fear and shoved his boyfriend out of the way in the spur of the moment. In the process, he’d not had enough time to move out of the way again himself and he became pinned down on his arm. 

Going from bad to worse, the zombie Luke didn’t get to finish off crawled over and sunk its jaw into Ashton’s side. 

Luke had gone mental from that point, quickly killing that zombie, and several others near them, before helping Ashton get his arm out, dragging him up, and pulling him along with him, shooting zombies now, before heading outside to brave the herd.

Presently, Luke’s eyes flew open. “Fuck, don’t say that! You could be immune!”

“I’m sweating like hell, Luke. I feel like shit.”

“That means nothing! You feel like shit because you lost blood, not necessarily because you’re about to become a zombie. Just please, stop.”

Ashton sighed, and forced himself to sit up against the wall of the room against all the pain he was currently feeling, moving away from Luke. “Fuck, babe, how many immune people have you ever seen?! One. We’ve met one person. The chances that I’m immune are like one in like ten billion. It’s just not happening.”

Luke growled, looking angrier than Ashton had even seen him before. There were still tears glistening in his eyes too. “Shut the fuck up! Literally shut your fucking mouth! Don’t speak like that, Ashton. We’re going to work out if you’re immune. I’m not letting you die. If you die, I’m going too.”

“No! No, fuck, Luke, no you’re not. You’re leaving here. You’re going to go back to base and you’re going to live the rest of this shit out, okay? Just because I’ll be gone doesn’t mean-”

The anger drained out of Luke’s face significantly, which caused Ashton to stop talking and simply watch his boyfriend. “If- if you’re gone, I-I don’t want to go on, Ash. I can’t. Fuck, Ash, I can’t live without you. I don’t fucking want to!”

Just as Ashton went to intervene and comfort his boyfriend, Luke had jumped up from the floor and had turned away from where Ashton was still slumped over on the floor.

“I’ve lost everything, Ash! This toxic piece of shit world has destroyed everything I love and it’s destroyed me. If you die on me now, I’ll have nothing. Everything I love would be dead or gone and I just don’t want to be alive in a world where that’s the case. I don’t care if you think I’m being stupid or I’m exaggerating, but it’s true. This world is too hard to live in as it is. I-I think about just fucking ending it everyday, Ash, just grabbing a gun and sticking a bullet in my skull. But then I think about you and God, you make me wanna _stay_. You make me feel good even in this world gone to shit. I know that’s not good mentality; it’s as toxic as this fucking apocalypse.”

Luke’s words made Ashton’s heart sink. He didn’t want to leave his boyfriend. He wanted to stay. Oh, how he would put up with all of that shit if he could be with Luke for a fucking second.

“Just give me the gun.”

When Luke made no effort to give Ashton the gun, Ashton decided he’d have to get it himself, dragging his body along the floor, only to cry out in pain when he moved a metre. 

Luke turned back around and was immediately hovering over him. “No, no, okay, I’m staying here with you. The zombies have passed now and I can carry you. There’s a cars outside. I’ll go see if I can start one up and we’ll get you back to the base. I’m not letting you die here alone. I’m not letting you die, period. You’re going to live.”

It’s a shame that’s something Ashton couldn’t do.


End file.
